A swarm of the bigwigs of the All Progressives Congress were chaperoned to Osogbo, the capital of Osun State by their then presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.
It was November 27, 2014 during the second term inauguration of Rauf Aregbesola as governor. Standing on the huge stage, party top shots took turns to say something about their candidate and the March 28 presidential election.
I browsed around to see who was and was not present on the VIP stand. I didn’t see Babatunde Fashola, the then Governor of Lagos State; and I began to wonder why. About an hour into the pomp, a helicopter hovered in the skies over the stadium; and someone whispered into my ears that that was the Lagos Governor in the helicopter. Not long afterwards, Fashola showed up on the stand behind me calmly seated and modestly smiling. I was not surprised to see that he looked older than his age. That is what the pressure of government business in Nigeria and the surreptitious schizophrenia of party politics will do to you. Aregbesola the celebrator and celebrity for the day then began acknowledging the guests. When he got to the turn of Fashola, I marked the glowing superlative: “…my brother Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos State, the best man for the job, the best man for the job”. The stadium erupted in a roar!
For a brief moment, readers, ignore Fashola’s sporadic snafus when he was governor. When he became the governorship candidate for his party, there were other lush and capable hands in Lagos. Whether Fashola was the best or not doesn’t really matter; but the man did an awesome job as Lagos Governor. His BRT transport system, the waste management system, the land bureau, his mega-city move and the street beautification endeavours opened up for him a special place in the hearts of ordinary people. His zeal to get things done was equal to none. But now, the former governor’s testimonies are under severe assaults from furtive corners; and only God and time can reveal to us why.
Vehement voices of opposition and sometimes of deep hate are shooting out of the blues accusing Fashola as a corrupt and profligate character that cannot be trusted with public office. First, it was the N78m website “upgrade” project. I was outraged by the whopping cash involved, but some professionals here in the US later told me that Fashola may have even saved Lagos State a lot of money with all the configurations on the site. I had to drop my befuddlement. Fashola responded to the raging allegations in this manner: “As far as the website contract is concerned, yes, there was a contract. It went through procurement and was approved by the government agency authorised to do so… this has been distorted by the agents of hate and their suspected smoking gun.”
Then, again this week, Lagos State Government published a report listing projects Fashola embarked upon while in office; and they include two borehole projects that reportedly cost about N140m. The reason for the publication of the report by the government is still unknown; but it is rumoured in many circles that it is meant to tarnish the image of the former governor and prevent him from landing a ministerial appointment opportunity with President Buhari. Meanwhile, a civil society group has already filed a report to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission alleging massive corruption by the governor while in power. But he is innocent until proved guilty.
This is not the first time Fashola will be in a bruising battle with men in his party. During his first term as governor, accusing fingers of financial recklessness were pointed at him. They alleged that he bought two helicopters with special expenditure without the knowledge of the state House of Assembly; he awarded a contract for Christmas decoration in Lagos at the cost of N280m. The talk eventually died its natural death when his predecessor, Bola Tinubu, waded in. But who is after Fashola, and why?
I had always thought that his problems hovered around a particular godfather or godmama; but according to my findings, it’s not about one man or woman attempting to switch off the microphone on Fashola, it’s a whole gamut of people. There are some irked principalities who are fathers to godfathers in Lagos State, some of the names you may have not heard, but their weights are heavier than one assumed godfather’s or godmama’s. The former governor’s problems with the powers-that-be may not necessarily be connected to any concern of corruption or profligacy, but to his personal attitude as a human being when he was governor and even after he left office. “Some people are telling Fashola that he is a political heavyweight and they are telling him that he can do anything he wants without respecting party protocols. They are lying to him; Fashola is not a heavyweight without us here in Lagos”, my source explained.
President Buhari’s love for Fashola is unhidden. The President at this time is in search of men and women who are above board and who can deliver. Buhari believes Fashola is one of the few ones in Nigeria today. Immediately after the President’s victory at the polls, I was told that the former governor began pitching a new tent with Buhari’s men and deliberately disregarding and slighting the team that brought him to fame and power. I heard that when Buhari asked Fashola to join him on the trip to Bavaria, Germany, for the G7 Summit in June, Fashola ignored party protocols and went with the President without the imprimatur of party henchmen who understandably got riled and ruffled up. When the National Assembly was boiling during the struggle for leadership, the former governor was said to have supported Yakubu Dogara as Speaker against his Lagos kin candidate, Femi Gbajabiamila. Fashola has since debunked the claim. Meanwhile, he has vowed not to engage anyone in the mudslinging fiesta now going on in Lagos about him and about some big shots. “When you wrestle with a pig, the pig gets happy and you get dirty,” Fashola sermonised.
Whether Fashola wants to wrestle or not, he’s already dirtied up. The pigs in a duel with him are not ordinary ones; they have dragged him into the gutters with his SAN suit on. As long as Fashola still has his eyes on politics and big-time appointments in Buhari’s administration, and as long as he wants to be his own man separate from hardcore politicians who live and breathe politics in Lagos, he will continue to deal with stubborn pigs. Fashola has eaten the “pork”; anyone who has eaten the “pork” must be ready to wrestle with the pig. If Fashola wants to eat more “pork”, he must be ready for more pig-wrestling. In the kind of business Fashola has found himself, he just can’t escape ferocious and feisty pigs upon which libation deserving of gods must be poured. Lagos pigs are downright wild, my friends!
Whoever the human pigs are, they should just leave Fashola alone. His testaments and achievements are also what the pigs can also claim as theirs. Maybe, he’s been a bit arrogant and standoffish, but very few people in life are able to put their egos in check when power and wealth come to them. In my opinion, Fashola was a good governor and posterity stands on his side. In the next seven days, I was told, Fashola’s war stories with the pigs will no longer be headline news. An APC governor told me; “we will settle it”. Bickering parties have been summoned to end all the drama. If Fashola is also riding a high horse, he needs to get off the ass. These Lagos pigs ain’t playing!
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